TWA Flight 847

TWA Flight 847 was a flight from Cairo, Egypt to San Diego, United States that was hijacked by two members of the Islamic Jihad Organization on 14 June 1985. The plane, carrying 139 passengers and 8 crew members, was hijacked as it left from the Athens International Airport, with Mohammed Ali Hammadi and his accomplice smuggling a pistol and two grenades through airport security. The plane was diverted to the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon, where 19 passengers were released in exchange for fuel; the Lebanese government was forced to allow for the plane to land when the pilot reported that one of the hostage-takers had pulled a hand grenade pin. 20 passengers were released when the plane flew to Algiers, Algeria, and the plane flew back to Beirut that night.

The hijackers decided to kill US Navy diver Robert Stethem and dump his body onto the runway, and seven American passengers with Jewish-sounding names were sent to a Shia prison in Beirut. A dozen well-armed men joined the hijackers before the plane flew back to Algiers on 15 June, and 65 passengers and all 5 female cabin crew members were released there. The new hijackers included Hassan Izz-al-Din and Imad Mughniyah. The hijackers wanted to fly to Tehran, Iran, but the pilot instead flew to Beirut, and the hijackers demanded the release of those arrested for the 1983 Kuwait bombings, the release of all 766 Shia Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli prisons, the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, and international condemnation of the United States and Israel. Greece agreed to release Ali Atwa, an IJO member who had been bumped from the flight and imprisoned, in exchange for the release of 8 Greek hostages, and Ali Atwa rejoined the hijackers. By 17 June, the remaining 40 hostages were held hostage in Beirut, and it was not until 30 June that the remaining hostages were released after negotiations with US president Ronald Reagan and the Lebanese government; Israel released over 700 prisoners over the next few weeks, although the government denied that the releases were related to the hijacking.